2014 Winter Games: The latest

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KRASNAYA POLYANA, RUSSIA — Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold won the season’s first race on a technicality.

The season’s last race, there was no argument.

Yarnold won the Olympic women’s skeleton gold medal Friday night, a victory that puts the 25-year-old unquestionably atop her sport, probably for years to come. Her four-run time was 0.97 seconds faster than silver medalist Noelle Pikus-Pace of Eagle Mountain, Utah, who entered retirement by exorcising the memory of letting a medal slip away in Vancouver four years ago.

“It won’t sink in for a few more days, but I’m over the moon,” Yarnold said, as a full moon illuminated part of the Russian night sky.

Yarnold claimed Britain’s first gold at the Sochi Games. Her time was 3 minutes, 52.89 seconds, and the final trip down the track was a mere formality, given that she already had a 0.78-second edge over Pikus-Pace and only needed to avoid a giant mistake.

Pikus-Pace said she’ll retire happy. Simply being in the Olympic race was victory enough. Pikus-Pace revealed afterward that she was dealing with concussion-like symptoms for several days before the race and minimized her training time on the advice of doctors.

“I felt fine and safe sliding, but my vision has been going in and out of being able to focus, which slows my reaction time,” Pikus-Pace said. “It has been an extremely difficult week. But my family, coaches, and prayers of many allowed me to come out and compete the best I can given the situation.”

Elena Nikitina of Russia won the bronze, another 0.44 seconds off the pace and just 0.04 seconds ahead of Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge, Colo., who took fourth for her top Olympic finish. Afterward, Uhlaender wasn’t lamenting coming so close. Instead, she picked up Pikus-Pace’s daughter, Lacee, gave her an embrace and sang her teammate’s praises. “I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Uhlaender said.

The Lizzy-vs.-Noelle rivalry was back and forth all season, starting with the World Cup opener in Calgary, where Pikus-Pace crossed the line first and was originally announced as the winner. But Yarnold was awarded the victory after race officials said the American used too much tape on the handle of her sled. That decision played a huge role in deciding the World Cup title. From there, Pikus-Pace set her sights on closing out her sliding career with an Olympic medal — which is really the only thing that lured her from retirement two years ago, especially since a trip to the podium in Vancouver was lost when she made a mistake in Curve 2 of her final run at the 2010 Olympics.

“This is a dream come true for myself and my family,” Pikus-Pace said.